Droped item glitch

When an item drops sometimes but only rarely(this has happened approx. 22 times since I started playing minecraft) will it glitch so you see the item but the item you see is only a sprite not the item itself. The actual item is above the sprite. I am sorry I do not know how to re create the glitch as I have not bothered about it until now. This glitch is not only me because I have contacted 5 of my friends about it and 4 have experienced it too. This also effects earlier versions back until 1.3.5 maybe even earlier.